Our Love Can Last
by escritorwriter
Summary: Aria and Chase love each other, that's for sure. But can it last?
1. Chapter 1

**If you're confused, check my profile**

"Jenna!" I whine to my sister. Yeah, Jenna Marbles was my sister. I was living with her because our mom is single and she just went into the war, and since I was only fifteen, Jenna got to be my legal guardian.

I love it because I love her to death. Oh and I changed my last name to Marbles also. It's less confusing.

Anyway, she comes into my room. "Yeah, Aria?"

"Which looks better?" I say holding up two tops. "The white one or the yellow one. Or.." I say, picking up the sweater. "This sweater?"

"The sweater with skinny jeans and combat boots."

"Thanks." I smile as she leaves my room and I get dressed, calling my best friend Bree, as I grab a Pop Tart and saying bye to Jenna, heading out the door, grabbing my skateboard.

"Hey girl!" I smile.

"Hey Aria! Oh, and my brothers are coming to school today."

Bree's brothers Chase and Adam weren't at school on the first day for some strange reason, but they're coming today.

Bree has been my best friend since forever. We met in Chicago until she lost her parents and got adopted, but we kept in contact. Then when our family moved to LA, I found out that's where she lived too.

"Please tell me they are not weird."

"Nah, they're pretty cool. At least Adam is." I smile as I approach her house and I hang up the phone, skating up the driveway.

I let myself in and plop down on the couch, waiting for Bree to come downstairs. "Who are you?" I hear someone ask from the stairs.

I turn around to see two boys, but whoever said it, I have no idea. "That depends. Which one of you is Adam and which one is Chase?" I turn to Bree who just came downstairs.

"Hey Aria." She grabs her skateboard from behind the potted plant as we skate off to school together.

The second day of school is probably as chaotic as the first. And to top it all off, apparently word got out that I was Jenna Marbles' sister.

And just wait for people trying to be my friends so I could have them over when Jenna was there.

We head to our lockers and I put everything up, grabbing my things for biology. We didn't even have our books yet, so it wasn't much.

"Hey Aria!" I hear a girl say coming next to me. "Do you think you could help me with math? But let's do it at your house, my mom won't let me have people over when she's not there."

"We haven't even gotten math work, what do you expect me to teach you?" I say, pushing past her into my class.

School went by fast and Bree invited me over for dinner. I call Jenna to make sure it was alright.

"Hey Jenny!" I say to her.

"If you found someone you can hang out with, the answer is yes. Dad and I are going out for dinner."

"Okay, see you afterwards."

"Love you!" she yells like a little kid. I laugh to myself. This is why she's my favorite.

"Love you too!" I yell back as I hang up and we reach Bree's house. Yeah, I can talk on the phone and skate. Jealous?

Chase and Adam were trailing right behind us.

We enter the house and Bree and I head up to her room as we flip through magazines, listening to music.

"Hey, do you think it's possible to dye your hair?"

"Um, yeah?" I say, more like a question.

"Like would Jenna be embarrassed to be seen with you in public if you had colored streaks?"

I playfully push her but answer "No, but are we thinking the same thing?"

"I think we are!" she smiles as we skate to the drug store, grabbing the dye that was permanent not just wash out with water.

We skate back and head to the bathroom. Bree's hair was brown and mine was blonde. I gave her dark blue highlights, and then she gave me light purple. She had suggested pink, but I didn't want to do the same thing as my sister.

We let it dry and now I was glad school started on a Thursday. Today was Friday and I had a feeling I would be spending the night. Anyways, since it was the weekend, we didn't have to go out in public before the 48 hours of not washing it were up.

We order pizza and head downstairs as we hear the doorbell ring.

"Hey Max!"

"Whoa, someone has colored hair!"

I laugh. "You like?" I say, taking the pizzas from him and digging through my bag. He notices and stops me.

"Yep. And this one's on the house."

"Everyone is on the house!" I sigh, laughing at him as he leaves and I shut the door behind him.

"I like free pizza." Bree says as she calls everybody downstairs as I put the pizza out and get some paper plates.

I grab an Arizona tea from the fridge and sit at my spot between Chase and Bree.

I grab a few slices and we sit down to eat. After we finished, I changed into pajama pants and an old Notre Dame sweatshirt. We make ice cream sundaes and sit down to watch a couple movies.

"Do you like Chase?" Bree asks suddenly after everyone had left the room.

I sigh. "Bree, we just met."

"But if he had been your best friend for life, would you date him."

"Probably."

"Yes!" Bree squeals. "You too would be perfect together!"

"How do you know?" I purse my lips.

"Well, unlike you, I know him, AND I know you. Therefore, I know you would be soul mates and would marry and have beautiful babies named Xavier and Amanda."

"You totally got that from Phineas and Ferb." I say, laughing.

"Hey, I can't help that Phineas is adorable."

"Bree!" I whine, hitting her with a pillow, causing her to fall back against the couch as I start cracking up laughing.

She glares at me, but joins my fit of giggles.

We finally settle down and watch the fourth movie as I fall asleep on the couch.

I wake up the next morning to Bree hitting me with a pillow. What a pleasant surprise! Sarcasm intended.

"What?!" I whine, sitting up.

"We're going to McDonalds!"

I smile at my best friend's craziness and get up, slipping on my Ugg boots as we head out the door.

Yeah, I was still in my pajamas. So what?

We finally get there and Bree and I part ways once we get back, me skating to her house and eating my Egg McMuffin on the way.

I walk in the door as I see Marbles and Kermit.

"Kermie, Marbles!" I smile as the two dogs surround me and I sit down on the ground, petting them. I smile and they follow me into the family room where I lay on the couch with my favorite Teenage Mutant Ninjas Turtles blanket.

They snuggle into it as they fall asleep and Jenna comes downstairs.

"Where's Max?" I ask.

"Sleeping. Ooh you dyed your hair!"

"Yeah, so did Bree. She got dark blue ones."

"I like it."

I spent the rest of the day not doing anything productive, same as Sunday.

I just kind of laid around all day with the dogs and my electronics. Because why not?


	2. Chapter 2

On Monday, I get up and wash my hair and getting on jeans and an Avengers tanktop with my red Supras.

I throw on a hat and head downstairs eating the cereal Jenna had made. "See you after volleyball Jen. Love you."

She kisses my head. "Love you too."

I leave the house and ride to Bree's house, letting myself in with the key on the lanyard around my neck.

I head upstairs to Bree's room where I see her searching through her shoes. She has on a white flowy top and skinny jeans. "Gold sandals." I say from the door, leaning against the door frame.

She looks up and smiles. "Thanks Ari."

She curls her hair and we head to school. I see Chase, Adam, and Bree's other brother Leo in the cafeteria, eating breakfast of something.

I can tell they were arguing about something in a whisper, but I couldn't tell what.

I watch as Adam and Leo get up and walk to us in the hall while I walk in and grab a cup if water. I was about to go up to Chase and talk to him for a bit, but I hear the blonde next to him say "I'd love to go to the dance with you!"

Bree drags me off to first period. "You so like him." she mumbles as we enter to the classroom.

"Yeah, okay I admit it." I smile to myself. Bree was right. He was like, perfect.

"I knew it!" she smirks like a little kid as I glare at her.

"Whatever, he doesn't like me anyways."

"You keep telling yourself that sweetheart." She smiles as the bell rings and we sit down for our classes. By the time lunch had rolled around, the blonde girl named Danielle was going with Adam instead of Chase.

He still didn't like me, but hey, I'll take what I can get.

The dance was kind of like a back to school formal. They had it every year.

They serve warm Kool-Aid and it was less than fun, but some people really liked dressing up and dancing with their date, so they kept having it.

School was finally over with and Bree and I got on the school bus that took us over to the separate gym. It's a lot bigger than our regular one.

After we got tryouts done with, we would do JV and Varsity, but I'm shooting for Varsity.

So is Bree and about eight other girls. Their names were Samantha, Nicole, Kendall, Ally, Jasmin, Dylan, Cassidy, and Elizabeth.

Kendall, Ally, and Elizabeth were seniors. Jasmin and Dylan were juniors. Cassidy and Nicole were sophomores and Samantha was the freshmen of the group.

We finally get there and it was the JV coach was Kay'Leigh and the Varsity coach was Elise. They introduce theirselves and we get a bunch of papers as we run, stretch, and break off.

We get a partner and start passing and doing a bunch of drills. Two hours later, we get in a huddle.

"Alright ladies, the final listings will be put up tomorrow and if you made it, come tomorrow to start practice."

Elise holds us back for a few minutes. "I'll let you in on a secret." she whispers. "You all made it."

I smile as we leave and Jenna pulls up wanting to take Bree and I dress shopping.

Mhm, torture.

Anyways, after about two hours, I finally pick out a mint green knee length dress.

She drops me off at Bree's house and I let myself in as I see the boys doing homework.

We hurry upstairs to try them on.

Hers was a coral blue one which had a strap going around the neck. Mine was strapless and it had ruffles and sparkles. Yeah, I was surprised I liked it as well.

We take them off and get changed back into our clothes and we head downstairs and I hear Chase, Leo, and Adam talking downstairs in the lab.

I knew Bree's dad was a scientist, I just didn't know what he did.

Bree and I crouch down to eavesdrop. "I can't believe you're taking Danielle to the dance!" Leo yells.

"Yeah, me either!" Chase adds and I roll my eyes.

"Oh, please, we all know you would rather take Aria to the dance."

"Well, yeah, but she doesn't like me."

"Are you freaking kidding me?" I yell as Bree clamps a hand over my mouth and I widen my eyes when they stop talking. "Go, go, go!" Bree whispers and I get my stuff as we head out the door, going to my house, which was only about a block away.

"Jenna, I'm home!" I call.

"And that was my favorite sister Aria and her friend Bree." I hear her say into the video camera, so I knew she was doing a vlog.

She turns the camera on us and I smile waving, sticking my tongue out.

I was in quite a lot of videos and the people comment how bubbly and funny I am, so I'm in them quite a bit.

We head upstairs and Bree stays for dinner. We finally get her home and I fall asleep almost immediately.


	3. Chapter 3

The next day, I got dressed, went to school, went to practice, and then did a video with Jenna for the rest of the day.

Pretty self-explanatory, right?

Anyways, it was the day of my dance and I was in my bra and underwear, getting my makeup and hair done.

I slide the dress on and since Bree had talked me into wearing heels, that's what I was doing. And I had a feeling I would be on my face by the end of the night.

My phone beeps as I read the text message from Bree.

'Be there in five minutes'

I grab my clutch off my vanity and rush downstairs where I meet Bree, and, of course, Jenna had to take five thousand pictures.

Davenport, Bree's dad, finally drops us off. The boys left a little earlier for some reason.

Anyways, Bree stops by the bathroom to check her hair and I wait outside for her as a guy comes up to me. Some jock, I think.

"Hey Aria."

"Hey whatever your name is."

"Chris."

"Cool." I say, uninterested, but he obviously doesn't get the point as he inches closer to me.

"So how about after this we go back to my house? My parents are out of town." He keeps getting closer with each word.

"Ew, no!" I say, pushing away from him by the entrance before he grabs my arm and whips me around.

"What do you want?" I say, growing angrier by the second.

"What's going on?" Chase asks coming out of the gym and I sigh in relief.

"Hey, man, a little privacy here." Chris says and I scoff. Yeah, right.

"Chris, I have a boyfriend." As soon as the words popped out of my mouth, I immediately regretted them.

"Well, I don't see him anywhere."

"Yeah, you do." I say grabbing Chase's hand as he widens his eyes at me.

"Him? A guy like him couldn't get a girl like you."

"Well, he did." Bree says from behind him as he turns around. "And you didn't."

"Whatever." Chris mumbles, storming away and I laugh, highfiving Bree as we head into the gym where the dance was being held.

I smile to myself as I realized I was still holding Chase's hand.

I look down and notice Chase blushing as he realizes the same thing, but squeezes my hand. I smile and I watch Leo come out and start dancing with a bunch of girls with him, trying to impress Danielle.

I put my free hand over my mouth to hold in the giggles, but I start laughing anyways.

After all that chaos was over, Chase and I had managed to escape the crowd and we head behind the school. I smile as I lean my head on his shoulder and we share a comfortable silence.

Suddenly my phone rings and I mentally groaned. "Hello?" I say.

"Can I ask why Cher Lloyd is here looking for you?" I hear Nicole's voice say through the phone.

"Oh God!" I groan. I look at my watch. Ten-thirty. Cher was going to do a collab with Jenna, and she was going to pick me up from the dance a half an hour ago.

I hang up the phone and head inside the gym, but not before apologizing to Chase bunches of times.

I then apologize to Cher bunches of times and then to Bree for not warning her since she was spending the night and now she had to leave early.

She drives us home and Jenna also apologizes for not reminding me. All in all, a lot of apologizing was going around.

Over the next few weeks, I got to know Cher better, and she was like my best friend, despite the age gap. She was also like that with Bree and Jenna, which I thought was awesome.

It was a Saturday, another day that Bree was trying to set me up with Chase. She's been trying ever since we pretty much admitted we liked each other, just not to each other's faces.

This day, however, Bree had me blindfolded, sitting in the backseat with her as Cher drove us somewhere. They led me into a building and sat me down. They took off my blindfold and I then saw Chase taking his off.

These girls. I love them, but they're crazy.

They abandoned us, leaving us in the café as a waiter comes over.

"Okay, so do you know what this is all about?"

"Bree wants me and you to get together." he says. "I overheard her on the phone with Bree. Bionics hearing?"

I nod. I learned about their bionics a few weeks back, and let me tell you, that was quite a surprise.

"So do you want to give us a try?" I ask.

He nods, smiling as he leans over the table kissing me on the cheek. We finish our date of lots of talking and joking around. Cher takes me home while Davenport takes Chase and Bree home.

I wake up almost bouncing off the walls in excitement. Today was our first volleyball game and I was really excited.

I pack my bag and hop in the shower, getting ready. I slip on my shoes and eat a Pop Tart before heading over to Bree's.

We skate to school and it couldn't have dragged by any slower! We finally get over with half of the day and we head to lunch as I sit with the team, Chase, Adam, and Leo.

Bree felt the need to practically shout to the world that we were dating. Real classy.

I shake my head at her and smile. The bell rings and luckily, we're finally getting on the bus to go to the game. Chase, Jenna, Max, Cher, Davenport, Tasha, Adam, and Leo were all going to be there.

I get my uniform on and put sweatpants on with my Sperry's.

We shag for the Junior Varsity and sat down as a team as the game began.

They made a lot of mistakes but they were really good at fighting back. We went into the third match but lost that one. Not too bad for the first time. We head to the locker rooms after the game was over.


	4. Chapter 4

"Alright, ladies!" Elise says in the huddle. "For some of you, this is the first game of the season. For others, heck, tonight's going to be the first time you wear that uniform. Win or lose, it doesn't matter to me. I just want you to go out there and have fun!"

We do our little chant and run out to the court to start warming up. I wave to Chase and start passing the ball back and forth with my best friend Bree.

We get in our positions and I'm facing a red haired girl with a bunch of freckles.

The next thing I know, I hear the smack of the ball, meaning Samantha got the serve over and the ball was in play. I saved the ball from going out and hit it over the net with a set.

Suddenly, the ball comes back over, falling down actually. Straight towards my face. The ball hits me in the nose, flinging my head back while the ball goes out. I'm surrounded and I hear the whistle ring, signaling a time out.

My nose was bleeding and was probably going to be bruised. "Who hit me?" I ask my teammates.

"The girl with the bow in her hair." It was the same girl. I groan and the pain in my nose causes my eyes to water.

"Oh no," Elise, the coach, says coming back over with the ice pack. "Is it that bad?"

"No this just hurts." The buzzer rings before I can say more.

"You okay?" I hear a voice say as arms wrap around my waist. Oh no. I didn't want the other team to see me as weak, much less my boyfriend!

"Yeah, I guess." He wipes away my tears and sits next to me, holding my hand for the first half of the match.

"Hey Aria, did your nose stop bleeding?" Elise asks.

"Yeah, I think so."

"Ok you're going in for Nicole."

"Awesome!" Chase goes back into the audience and I go tell Greg, who was also Elise's husband, that I'm going in for her. He writes it down in his book and the referee calls for subs. I go in and smack Nicole on the butt and she does the same to me. It's what we do in volleyball.

It was Kendall's turn to serve the ball and it went over, hitting the ground immediately. "A-C-E! Ace! Woo woo! Ace!" we all yell, doing the cheer we made up in sixth grade.

She serves again and this time the other team gets it back over. I switch places with Ally in this specific play so she goes to left back while I go to the front, straight up to the net. Jasmin bumps it up and Dylan sets it back up, and I spike it down to the ground before the team can even react.

Once I land back on the ground, I start to lose my balance, but Cassidy grabs my shoulders so I don't fall back.

I turn around and smile at her. They get an ace on us, but we bring it back. We get back into position, only this time, I rotated to the right so I was now in the front row, smack dab in the middle.

Dylan serves but it doesn't make it over so the other team gets the ball. "It's alright, Dyl!" I say trying to cheer up teammate.

The snobby red-haired girl served and I dived for it as it almost fell to the ground, sending it back up. I quickly flipped over and got back up on my feet.

The ball hit the ground because it didn't get too far up and I couldn't get it since I already hit it and my teammates couldn't get to it in time. "THIS IS HOW WE DO IT!" the other team yells and I chuck the ball back over the net and it slams into the wall on the other side.

The score was 22-23 and they were the twenty-three. I couldn't let them win this match! "Come on ladies! Pick it up!" I yell as the ball gets served back over. Cassidy hits it back over with a set immediately and it comes back to our side with a bump. "Mine!" I yell and kneel down as the ball comes in contact with my arms.

It all went in slow motion for me. I watched the ball the whole time and it seems like it took ages just to get back in the air.

Kendall set it up and Ally spiked it and it made the loudest smack as it the floor. The whole audience that was rooting for West View cheered. The score was 23-23. "Come on girls, just two points!" Nicole yells from the sidelines. We rotate and Cassidy was up to serve. I relaxed. She was a good server.

She honestly is, even though it didn't make it over. One more point and Seaford wins this match. A heavy set brown haired girl serves and it Kendall sets it over and Seaford isn't quick enough to get the ball.

We were safe. 24-24 and I was up to serve. I could do this. "Come on, Aria. You can do this." I mumble to myself. Call me crazy, but it actually works.

I serve and it heads straight for center court. It hit one of the girl's fingers but she didn't get it back up and the ball dropped to the ground.

The whole West View crowd erupts in cheers. If we can just win one more, we're golden.

We had twenty minutes before we had to start our match so Bree and I go up to where Chase and his family are. He hands his sister a red Gatorade and me a blue one. "Thank you." I say, opening it and taking a sip.

I put it down on the ground and start talking to everyone "How's your nose?" Chase asks.

"Throbbing, in pain, but otherwise good." He smiles a sympathetic smile and I sit down next to him, taking a bit of the pretzel he was eating.

"Hey Ari, you wanna go warm up?" Bree asks.

"Sure." I get up and kiss Chase goodbye on the cheek.

Bree and I pass back and forth before we get called back into the locker room for our team huddle.

"Alright ladies. Match wise, we are 1-0. Am I the only one that would like that to be 2-0?" Elise says in the huddle in the locker room.

A chorus of 'no's rang out throughout our team.

"So let's go make it happen!"

"Oh my gosh!" Nicole exclaims. "Ari your nose is bleeding!"

I reach my hand up and sure enough, I feel blood. Elise gets me tissues and Bree goes to tell the announcer that my nose was bleeding.

Elise comes back with a box of Kleenex and an ice pack. It finally stopped bleeding but Elise made me sit out and keep the ice pack on it.


	5. Chapter 5

The game finally starts back up and we were doing pretty well. We already had 12-9, us being twelve.

"Come on ladies!" I yell.

Thee referee called for subs and Jasmin went in for Cassidy. "Good job Cass!" the whole team chorused.

She smiles and takes her spot next to me. "Nice one kiddo"

I always treat these girls as my sisters. She grins and turns back to the game. Cassidy is actually mute. Its not like a health issue, shes just naturally quiet and only talks once in a blue moon.

"Thank you Ari." a voice says. I turn to look where it came from but didn't see anyone new. I could recognize my teammates' voices from a mile away. That's when it hit me.

The whole team stared at her shocked.

"But you just- and I- you-you're welcome!" I stammer out. I can't believe I actually got Cassidy Morgan to talk.

We all shook our heads and turned back to the game. The score was 23-19, us being nineteen. Oh no. They might just win this match.

"Hey girl your phone is vibrating." Out of all the iPhones on the team, you could tell which is mine because every year, I have new players on the team sign it. Anyone I had ever been on a team with has signed my phone.

I check and it was a text from Chase. 'Why aren't you playing?' it says.

'I'm having some nose troubles.' I reply back and put my phone back in my bag, zipping it up.

The score was 23-24. "Babe, can you go in?" Elise asks. I check my nose for blood but there wasn't any, so I nodded my head yes and went in for Bree.

"Come on ladies!" Bree yells. "Don't let them get the last point!"

Nicole serves it over and it comes back. I bump it and it hits the very top of the net but doesn't make it quite over. Ally pushes me out of the way and onto the floor where I quickly flip back over onto my feet. Ally set it over and it hit the floor on the other team.

No, I wasn't mad at her. That's just what she had to do to get the ball back up before it hit the ground.

"Nice." I compliment and Ally gives me a highfive.

I serve it over and it makes it to the other side. They hit it back so fast I didn't realize where it was heading. "Liz watch out!" I yell.

It wasn't going to injure her, but if it hit her and it was going out, that would be counted as touching. Elizabeth moves over just as dooms past her and hit the wall. It hit it so hard that it just slid down instead of bouncing away.

Okay, I admit that could have injured her. But who cares?! We won the game!

The West View crowd all started to cheer and were standing up clapping. We got in line to highfive the other players. "Good game." I said to each of them.

"Locker room ladies!" Elise says.

All ten of us follow our coach into the locker room, waving to parents and friends while cheering excitedly.

"I'm very proud of what happened today." she says once we get in the locker room. "You all showed excellent attitude and skills. You really came through for each other!"

Samantha speaks up. "When does volleyball camp start?"

"Next week on the weekends, 6AM to 4PM."

Other people would of groaned at getting up that early or practicing for that long, but the West View volleyball team cheered our heads off.

"I'll see you ladies then."

We then all get dressed. I get changed into sweats, converse, and a tank top. "Who's sweatshirt is this?" Kendall asks, holding it up.

I laugh and take it. "It's Chase's. He must of saw just a tanktop in my bag and left it for me."

I slide it on over me and it goes down mid-thigh. I put my volleyball pads, spandex, and shoes into my bag. I put the jersey in the laundry basket and so did everyone else.

"Hey guys?" Elizabeth says and we all turn to her. "I got bracelets for all of you with your name and number on them."

She passes them out and they were insanely cool. Like they were made out of embroidery thread. "Did you make these?" Ally asks.

"Yeah."

"Wow." she says. "That must of taken you ages!"

"Yeah I started making them when the season started and I've been working on them every weekend since then. They're all matching. I even made Elise and myself one."

"Oh my gosh!" I exclaim. We all spend about ten minutes getting each others bracelets tied and we finally pack up our things and give Elise hers.

"These are so cute!" she says. "Who made them?"

"Liz did!" Ashley says.

I tie it on and we go talk to our families. Or in my case, my second family with Bree. I run into Chase's arm and he spins me around in a hug. I still can't believe we won.

"So you got my sweatshirt?" he asks.

"Yeah, what's up with that?"

"On the car ride to school, remember when you were looking for your phone? I saw your tank top and knew you didn't have anything else."

"You were smart to do so, I'm freezing!" He laughs and wraps his arm around my shoulder for body heat.

"So do you girls want to go for ice cream?" Davenport asks.

"Yes!" Bree and I say at the same time and we laugh at each other.

We go to Dairy Queen and I get a chocolate shake which Chase and I share. We finish up and Davenport drops me off at my house and I go inside with Cher, Jenna, and Max. I kiss Chase goodbye as they leave.


	6. Chapter 6

The next morning Max is shaking me awake and I immediately smell pancakes. "Well hello there Miss Sleepyhead."

"Hello there Mr. Better-Get-Out-of-My-Way-Because-I-Smell-Pancakes!"

He chuckles and we sit down to eat Jenna's famous pancakes.

Did I mention Cher is now the assistant coach? Pretty cool right?

I head to school and go home with Bree. We had to work on a project together, so lots of fun there. Sarcasm intended.

"Hey Bree have you seen my-" I hear someone, which was Chase in case you haven't figured that out, start to say before they stop short, hiding something behind his back quickly.

"Hannah! What are you doing here?"

"You don't sound that excited." I say sitting up on the bed. "What's that?" I point to his back.

"My...toaster?

"Your toaster?"

Bree scoffs. "For a super genius, that was not very smart at all."

"Chase?" I say.

"It's for you. Close your eyes so I can leave!"

"Okay, okay!" I reply, shutting my eyes and clamping a hand over them.

"Wait," Bree says when he leaves the room. "What occasion is it?"

"Our one month is in a few days."

"Ahhh." she winks and I hit her with a pillow as Leo comes into the room.

"Bree, Big D needs you to test your bionics." Leo says, coming upstairs. She goes down to the lab, following him.

I chose to stay behind. Last time I went, I almost lost my eyebrows. That would have been a travesty. Chase tries to get me to come, but there's no way in heck you'll see me down there. I'd like to keep my eyebrows, thank you very much.

I go downstairs and watch TV. I turn the channel since Bree had on MTV, and I hate that kind of stuff. I start channel surfing until I come across a Hardy Boys episode from a long, long time ago.

Suddenly, Chase comes back upstairs and I smile at him. "What kind of nerd watches old TV shows?" he asks and my smile was replaced with a frown. What now?

"Excuse me? I was just channel surfing."

"I don't want to date you anymore."

My mouth was open in shock. "What? You're breaking up with me?!"

"Yes."

"You jerk!" I scream before ripping off the necklace he bought me for Valentine's Day and throwing it at his face, the tears already falling while I slam the door so hard that it's possible I broke it.

I think I ran all the way back to my house. To tell you the truth, I'm not entirely sure. I was too busy trying to see through all my tears.

I knock through the door because I left my key ring back at their house in my rush to get outside. No one was home, so I assumed everyone was at work, so I went around the back and climbed over the fence, going inside through the door connecting to the backyard.

I run upstairs and slam the door to my room and slide down the wall, bawling.

He's such a jerk!

And he's just like 'I don't want to date you anymore.'. Simple as that, yet those seven words broke my heart into a billion pieces just as he said them.

I don't remember exactly when I fell asleep, but I was in my bed. Last I remembered, I was on the floor. But I really don't remember anything from yesterday. Besides the fact that Chase and I were over. For good, it seems. And today I had to face him at school. Oh goody goody gumdrops.

I got up and hopped into the shower, doing my thing. I get out and dry my hair, putting it in a braid. I throw on some Hollister sweatpants and my Beatles shirt. Amazingly, I didn't feel like dressing up today.

I brush my teeth and put my converse on. I didn't even bother trying to put makeup on to cover my red, puffy eyes. It was a lost cause from the beginning.

"Hey kiddo." Abby says setting Toaster Strudels in front of me.

"Hey."

She sits down next to me. "So what happened last night?"

I crinkle my nose. "I would rather not talk about it."

She smiles and nods. "Tell me when you're ready." She gets up and goes upstairs, probably to get ready for work.

I finish up and clean my dishes. I realize I'm late because I woke up late. By an hour. And my stuff was at Chase's house. Great.

I get a box from the garage and grab my skateboard, heading off to their house. At least nobody but Davenport would be there, and he's in the lab, 24/7. I had a key so I let myself in and got my backpack. I then went to Chase's room and got all of my things in there.

I also got the bag full of all the things Chase had ever bought me or given to me and set it on his bed. I take the box to Bree's room and set it in there. I would come back after school and get it.

We had a volleyball game tonight, which really sucks. I mean, I love volleyball, but I was SO not up to it right about now.

I leave their house and get back on my skateboard and start my trip to school. I get there and check in with the office and get a pass heading to class.

"And why are you late, Miss Stewart?" Mr. Markell asks me and all eyes were on me.

"I woke up late, and then I had to ride my skateboard to school because my cousin had to go to work." I answer handing them the pass and heading to my seat in the second row.

Unfortunately, that seat was right across my Chase. He smiles at me and I roll my eyes and scoff. What? He's going to break up with me in the cruelest way possible and then act all buddy-buddy and I'm NOT supposed to hate him?

A piece of paper landed on my desk and I open it up.

'Why are you REALLY late? xo Chase'

Oh heck to the no. I crumple it up and throw it in the trash can right next to my desk. I look over at Chase and he has a hurt look on his face, but turns back to the lesson.

The class finishes pretty quickly, considering I got there twenty minutes before the class ended. I'm the first one out the door and I quickly go to my locker to get my books for chemistry.


	7. Chapter 7

"Ready for tonight's game?" Nicole asks, coming up to me.

"Ready as I'll ever be." I sigh.

"Are you okay?" she asks.

"No, not at all."

"Oh my gosh! What happened? Is it your dad?! I swear if it is, I'll take a baseball bat-" I interrupt her.

"Nicki! I'll tell you later, I really don't want to talk about it right now."

"Fair enough." She links her arm through my elbow and we leave my locker. I look back to see if I shut it and I see that I just missed Chase, so I told Nicole to hurry and we quickly made it to chemistry and sat down.

Unfortunately, Chase was in this class as well. In fact, he's in every class of mine. He comes up to me. "What is up with you?" he asks.

I sigh. "Chase, you made your point very clear last night, I most definitely don't need to hear it again." I look down at my hands and I see the infinity ring Chase got me for my birthday. I slide it off and put it in his hand. "Here," I say, struggling to get words to come out. "Give it to the new girl. She seems...nice."

The bell rang and I got my notebook out as Chase left my desk to sit in his seat at the back.

Before I know it, it was lunch time and I sat down at the table with the volleyball players instead of with Chase, Adam, Bree, and Leo.

Bree came over and joined me. Yup, she definitely heard what happened.

"Wait," Samantha says. "So you and Chase broke up?"

I nod my head yes. "Aw, you two were so cute together!" Elizabeth says.

"Well, he broke up with me. Just flat out says it."

"No 'We need to talk.'? He's just like 'It's over.'?" Kendall asks.

"Pretty much sums it up. I was mostly late because I went to Bree's house and got anything and everything that belonged to me from Chase's room then returned all jewelry he gave me."

"Wow," Ally says. "What a jerk."

Bree leaves the table and I keep talking to the girls. I see her talking to Chase and I sigh.

After lunch, I head back to my locker for algebra class. A note fell on the floor so I picked it up and read it.

'I know what I said was really awful, but can you let me explain? xo Chase'

Of course it was from him. I crumple it up and throw it behind my shoulder onto the floors of the school hallways.  
There's nothing to explain! He said what he said and that's that. We're broken up. Done. For good. At least I only had two more classes before I could go to volleyball. Something to take my mind off of it.

Cassidy walks with me to algebra and stands by my desk, making sure that Chase couldn't get to me. She's awesome like that. And very protective, might I add.

"Don't even try." she says as he walks past my desk. Yeah. Cassidy talked. Just for me. I feel so special!

The next two classes go by quickly and with Cassidy acting as my bodyguard, I didn't get bothered.

As Bree and I are walking the hallways of school, trying to find something to do before the bus came at 4:30, she stops and turns to me.

"Chase really isn't like that, Aria." she says. "You really have to give him a chance."

"Bree, you don't have to defend him. I gave him everything I could offer and he repays me with a bunch of bull. I can't even trust him again!"

"Ari, please!"

"Bree, no. Now let's go, the bus will be here soon." We walk back in silence and when we get to the cafeteria with the others, the bus is waiting on us outside.

I sit next to Samantha and we talk the whole way there. I change into my spandex and jersey and put my pads and shoes on.

I get back out and set my water bottle down and there was another note on my seat. Surprise, surprise.

'Aria, if you let me explain, I'll love you forever. Of course I already do. Please just talk to me. I miss hearing your voice. xo Chase.'

I sigh but look up into the audience and wave at him. I start passing back and forth with George. The game starts and I serve first and, of course, it doesn't make it over, so the other team got the ball.

Dylan gives me a sympathetic smile and turns back to the game. I can't be sad. I can't be sad. I can't be sad. No matter how many times I tell myself, it's never going to work.

After about three more misses from me, Elise pulls me out. "Babe, you're my best player, what's going on?"

"Chase broke up with me and I'm just really sad still."

"Did he make you angry?"

I quickly nod my head. "Yes, a lot."

"Use those feelings to play." I nod and smile.

"I think I can do that!"

"Awesome! Oh and," She leans in closer. "I'm going to kick that boy's butt if he makes you cry one more time." I smile as they call for subs and I go back in, doing what Elise said.

We were at 20-13, us being twenty. "Five more ladies!" Elizabeth yells from the sidelines.

Dylan serves it over and it goes over and comes right back and I spike it down immediately, injuring my wrist in the process, but the pain went away quickly.

"Nice going girl!" Elise yells and I give her a thumbs up as the ball is passed back over to serve. Dylan serves and she. It goes over, they don't get it back. The whistle blew and Elise got me out.

"What? I thought I was doing good!"

"You were, don't worry. It's your dad."

"Did he get arrested?!"

"No, nobody can find him anywhere. The police can't do a missing person search until he's been gone for 48 hours."

I sink back into my seat as tears start to brim. "First Chase, now this?! I just can't win today!"

I run out into the hallway to cool down for a bit. But what I saw definitely did not make me cool down. Not at all.


	8. Chapter 8

"Chase!" I exclaim and he detaches his lips from the blonde he had been swapping spit with. "Well, gee, this is turning out to be a good day! I have to go search in the woods for my drunken father and now I have to avoid you for the rest of my life!"

I run outside past the school and the buses and everything else, not looking back as I hear someone screaming my name.

I actually do go into the woods. I lean my back against a tree, sliding down it. Why would he do this to me? First he breaks up with me, wants to get back together, and when I finally do consider it, he goes and kisses that girl!

I don't remember falling asleep, but I woke up in the woods, and my cell phone read 2AM in the morning and I had 40 missed calls, 23 voicemails, and 67 texts. Most of all were from Chase. I start to go through the voicemails.

"Hey Aria, it's Chase. I'm really, really sorry. Where are you?"

"Aria, it's almost midnight, where are you?"

The next one sounded like he was speaking through tears. "If I never see you again, I want you to know I love you. Very much. Please come home."

"I can't sleep. Please, Aria. I need you. I can't find you anywhere!"

The texts pretty much said the same things. Most of them were from Chase, but another good portion were from Cher, Max, Jenna, Bree, Adam, and Leo.

I sit up and wipe the sticks and leaves off my butt and start to walk back to our school. I open the door and turn off the alarm that sounded. Don't ask me how I know the code, I just do.

I go into the locker room and get dressed in the clothes I had for gym. Sweats, converse, and... a sweatshirt. Chase's sweatshirt to be exact. I wipe my eyes with the sleeve and sit on the bleachers, crying and waiting for morning to come.

The next morning, the morning announcements woke me up and I quickly go to my locker acting like nothing had happened. Apparently, most kids didn't know because nobody really paid any attention to me when I walked out of the gym.

"Chase, she probably went home!" I hear Leo say by the staircase and I duck behind a trash can to listen in.

"I already checked there! And any of her relatives houses in the state!"

"No like home home." I'm guessing that Chase looked at him confused because Leo continued. "You know, Tennessee?"

"What if she did?!"

"Then she probably hates you and never wants to see you again." Leo says in a cheery voice. Okay, I have to admit, that was hilarious. "Look, just leave a note on her locker. If it's gone next period, she's here but is just ignoring you."

"Okay." I watch as he tapes a note to my locker. The bell rings and I go to my first class, again acting like nothing happened.

I walk in and I'm immediately scooped into a hug by Adam and he was squeezing me against his chest. Which is saying something when it's Adam. "All right," Mrs. Smith says. "Put Miss Marbles down." Adam sets me down and we all go to our seats.

This was our homeroom, so we didn't really do much. "What did you all do last night? Let's go around the room." Gosh, she's like an elementary school teacher.

I got called on. "I had a volleyball game and got lost." I mumble, but she heard me because she moved onto the next person. Chase looked at me and smiled and for once, I smiled back.

We get out of homeroom and I head to my locker where I find the note that Chase had left for me. I take it off and read it, smiling.

'Dear Aria,

You've always wanted to know what I loved about you. And this is going to take a lot more than one piece of paper, so here's just a few.

I love the way your lips always taste like vanilla.

I love how you do your hair.

I love how you aren't afraid to be yourself.

I love the music you listen to, even though I might not like it.

I love your laugh.

I love your smile.

I love how you look with your glasses on.

I love that you love old things.

I love that you understand me.

I love you because you love me back, no matter what stupid things I do.

I love the memories I have of you.

I love you.

xoxo Chase'

Aw. I stick it in my locker and grab the things that I needed, heading to Chase's locker.

"Hey Aria." He smiles. "Did you get the note?"

"Yes, I did. And I love you too." He wraps me in a hug and I hug back, tightly.

He kisses the top of my head. "Now, will you please let me explain?"

"Shoot."

He takes my hand and leads me to the library where not many people were. "You know my bionics, right?" he says and I nod.

"Of course." I nod.

"Well, Davenport added a commando app and it's like the flight or fight, but without the flight. And when I broke up with you, it was Spike. And when I kissed that girl, it was Spike. I don't remember anything I do when I'm him."

"Okay, if you don't remember, how do you know you kissed that girl."

"Because when I saw you, it disengaged, and because you were running away and a girl was trying to kiss me, I figured that's what happened.

"Okay, I can't stay mad at you."

He smiles, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me in close for a kiss. I smile into it as I run my fingers through his hair. We separate and I smile.


	9. Chapter 9

We hear a squeal behind us and turn around to see Bree. "Yay! You guys are back together!" she says with a huge smile on her face. "Now Leo owes me five bucks!" I open my mouth in shock at her and give her a little look.

"You guys bet on my relationship?" I ask, kind of offended. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm not the type of girl that gets pissed everytime somebody even breathes. That is really not the proper way for me to make friends or even get a boyfriend. Sometimes, I don't even know why Chase is dating me. I'm kind of a weirdo in case you didn't know.

"Psh, no." Bree says, trying to deny what she said. "Okay, yes. Anyways, Aria, tomorrow night, we are having a slumber party with the whole entire popular crowd. Oh, and Dylan from the popular crowd. No, wait, that sounded really mean."

She tells me that there's going to be ten girls at the party. I don't know about you, but I always hate really big slumber parties. I always feel left out by the end of the night, so I don't usually go to parties. In fact, the dance a while back was like the first dance that I've gone to. I've never had a date to go with me, so I just didn't go. I had a pretty bad time in middle school.

Good thing that Bree was the one that was hosting the party. Otherwise, I would just have a really awful time. I'm so socially awkward, except when it comes to Bree. She is my best friend, after all. What do you expect?

"Wait, you're having a party?" Chase asks with a little smirk on his face as I squeeze his hand giving him a look with one eyebrow raised. I know him way too well. He was probably going to crash the party and ruin this for Bree. I mean, I didn't really care about the popular girls, but Bree was trying to make an impression on them, and I respected that. "Okay, fine." Chase sighs as I grin in victory.

I turn back around as Bree gives me the details of the party. I was probably going to come there early so that I could help her make preparations for the party. We are usually like that. "Okay, so Aria, you're going to be coming home with me tonight and spending the night so that we can set up." I smile, knowing that I had predicted correctly. "I'm sure that Chase wouldn't mind that one bit."

He blushes a deep shade of red as I laugh, taking him off to the next class by his hand as I text Cher quickly to tell Jenna to call me right after school. I would have told Jenna directly, but she turns her phone off at work because she got in trouble for using it one time and she really can't lose her job. It wouldn't be good.

She really needs to make the money. We're not poor or anything, but we're not completely rich either. We're like middle class, and we're also living on our own, so that's pretty good for us. At least I think so. Being in Bree's super huge mansion always makes me feel a little awkward because her dad is a freaking billionaire and we're thousandares. Yeah, that's a really, really big difference.

Our classes fly by so quickly that before I know it, we're back at their house and Bree and I were up in her room, trying to figure out what to do first. She had pulled out some magazines and we were flipping through them while I had One Direction playing on my phone. What can I say? I love me some foreign boys. Not as much as I love Chase, though. Okay, you know, that one might actually be a tie. I'm totally kidding, of course.

I sigh, looking through the slumber party tips, finding a bunch of recipes for face masks and other spa related things. I don't know about you, but I would love to have a little relaxing spa day every once in a while to distract me from my busy life.

I have volleyball this season and then I start my high school cheerleading and my competitive cheerleading in two months and it goes all the way to February. I love volleyball and all, but I really love cheer. It's really fun for me to do and I've been doing it since I was at least four years old. I don't know how I would ever schedule time for a spa day.

I hop up, coming up with an idea. "We're going to make face masks!" I smile, going downstairs with Bree trailing behind me. I go into the kitchen, starting my little face masks, Bree getting out the ingredients because she was the one that actually knew where everything was.

I knew where some things were, but if you asked me to get the avocados, I would tell you that you were crazy, mostly because I don't particularly know what an avocado is, exactly. Okay, that was kind of a weird example. Sorry for that.

Bree goes upstairs to go look for more things to do as she leaves me alone to make all of the face masks, all by myself. Oh, thank you, Bree, I totally appreciate that. I laugh to myself as someone sits across from me where I was mixing the ingredients. "Hey Aria." Leo says with a little wink.

Bree has told me that Leo had a crush on me ever since he saw a picture of me with her in Bree's room. At least, according to her, but his actions tell me that she was telling the truth about his little crush. I mentally smile as I hear someone whining from the stairs. "Leo, get your own girl!" Chase says as I smile on the outside this time.

"Hey, you can't blame a guy for trying." Leo says, holding his hands up in defense as the two walk past each other, Leo going towards the stairs and Chase coming towards me. I smile, reaching out for him to take my hand as he grabs it, pulling me in for a hug while squeezing my waist tight. We pull back as he still had his arms wrapped around me, looking into my eyes.

"Actually, you can." I say and he smiles, pulling me back into the hug as I laugh at him as he squeezes me even tighter, mumbling something into my ear so that only I could hear what he was trying to say.

"I love you." he mutters, giving me a little peck on the cheek.


	10. Chapter 10

I finish up with making the face masks and stick them in the fridge to cool overnight. I'd get it out tomorrow night to let it set a little and then we would use it and put cucumbers are on our eyes. Cher and I would do it all the time. She's the one that taught me the recipe. Jenna would always think that we were weirdoes, and then she would join with us because she's a weirdo too. I mean, have you seen her videos? Just kidding.

Oh, and about Cher? She's on a little break from her music right now and since we hit it off really well and Jenna and I really like her, she's going to be staying with us until her tour gets back in action. I'm really happy about that. It's like having two sisters now.

I grab that piece of pizza that I was wanting and head upstairs to my guest room. Yeah, I come here so often that I have my own room. I have half my clothes at my house and half my clothes here. If I have something I want to wear here and I'm at my house, I usually just skate over there in my pajamas. Yeah, my neighbors think I'm really strange.

I grab my phone and head down the hall to Bree's room where she was going through more pages of her magazines. "Okay," she says, looking up at me and gives me a look when she sees my piece of pizza and I hand over the other half of the piece I was eating. She had a smirk on her face as she continues to talk. "Let's make a bunch of CD's to play throughout the night."

We spend a bunch of time picking the perfect songs and actually buying a few. Good thing I had an iTunes gift card that I got from Jenna for making the volleyball team. Yeah, she's a cool sister like that. Anyways, there were artists on that CD ranging from Cher to One Direction to The Wanted. Most of them were foreign. It's a British invasion, I tell you!

We pick a few movies like The Notebook, Mean Girls, and Clueless. You've really got to love the classics. We also get things to do nails like manicure and pedicure stuff. We also get some really, really, really scary movies to watch late at night before we go to bed just because I love scaring people.

It took me a while to convince Bree that it was a good idea, but I finally broke her down and now she was all for the idea as long as I would walk her to the bathroom later on when she was way too scared to go by herself. We set out some games like Twister and Monopoly. I had a feeling that the girls were going to gossip about a lot of things. I mean, they are the popular girls. It was probably going to be Bree, Dylan, and I that would just be wondering what the heck they were talking about.

We decided that we would go to the store tomorrow to get a bunch of snacks and things to make food and going to get the pizza and everything. It was somewhere around six so Bree and I quickly eat the rest of the pizza - even though we were having pizza tomorrow - and go to sleep. I was really excited for tomorrow to come.

The sooner I go to bed, the sooner I go to sleep. The sooner I go to sleep, the sooner I wake up. The sooner I wake up, it's time for the party! Ten bonus points if you got that reference, because if you did, I love you.

Bree and I go to our separate rooms and I fall asleep pretty quickly. Getting ready for a slumber party really wears a girl out, trust me. I wake up the next morning to Bree bouncing on my bed. "Wake up!" she shouts in a sing song voice and I push her off the bed. She lands with a thud and groans as she gives me a glare and I burst out laughing at her. "Oh, you're so nice to me. You're the best friend that I have ever had." she says sarcastically, laughing at my face.

"Heck yeah I am!" I smile, giving her a push on the shoulder out of my room so that I could take a shower and get dressed for the day so that I could not be in my pajamas when we went out to get food. The girls were coming somewhere around six so we had a bunch of time to make cookies, go shopping, and order pizza.

Dylan called last night to tell us that she couldn't come tonight because she had to go visit her grandmother in the hospital today and she was going to be spending the night with her and spending time with her the whole weekend. I felt really bad for her. Her grandmother is really sick. I know what's it like to lose a relative to sickness. It really sucks.

I lose that sad thought and take a shower, getting out and getting dressed. I put on a sweater , skinny jeans, and my Pastry brand shoes. We grab our skateboards from behind the bush like we always do and skate down the sidewalk to the grocery store where we pick up all the junk food that we could find.

Bree and I would probably be the only ones to eat them, considering the fact that they are probably all on a diet. Don't worry, I can eat the food all by myself. Without Bree.

We buy ingredients to make both chocolate chip cookies and mint chocolate cookies. They're my signature trademark. We also got chips and a bunch of candy. I also pick up a bunch of things with which we can make ice cream sundaes. We pick up some frozen pizza from the frozen aisle and start to go to the books which also had the magazine in it. We grab a bunch of magazines about celebrities and head to the checkout.

"Having a party?" the guy at the checkout says and I awkwardly nod my head. I hate it when people judge you for your groceries. No, dude, we're going to eat this all by ourselves because our boyfriends dumped us and we like to eat and get fat when we're depressed. No, man, just no.

We leave the grocery store and go back home to get everything set up. It was around three in the afternoon and I really wanted it to be six so that we could just get the party started. Needless to say, I'm way too excited for this party than I should be.


	11. Chapter 11

It finally becomes five thirty and Chase, Adam, and Leo were playing some video while I was sprawled out on the couch, scrolling through Instagram on my phone. Bree gave me a list of all the girls that were coming to the party and since I rarely paid any attention to anything of them, I wanted to see what they were like.

They were definitely girly, but I don't mind that. I mean, I'm girly too. Well, I mean, minus the whole skateboard thing. Well, I guess I'm like eighty percent girly, fifteen percent weirdo, and finally five percent tomboy. They just didn't seem like the kind of people that I would ever associate with.

"Yes!" I hear Chase yell and I look up smiling at their dorkiness. "We're totally going to beat this game!" I laugh quietly, sitting up a little bit so that I could see what they were doing. All three of them sit back on the couch minutes later, letting out a big sigh. Man, they are big dorks. They keep talking about how they were never going to play the game again, even though we all knew that they would be playing in like five minutes. I smile as they all start playing, holding back a little giggle and going back to my stalking.

Donald comes downstairs as Tasha comes into the room, telling Leo to stop playing the games because it would rot his brain. "I'll play next!" I say, grabbing the helmet and little controller from Leo, about to put it on until Tasha gives me a look that told me I really wasn't helping. "Okay, nevermind." I say, putting the things down.

Chase turns from his spot on the couch to give me a goofy smile. I smile back sarcastically and sprawl out even farther so that my feet are on his lap and I was using him as a foot rest. "Hey," Bree says talking to the boys as they get up to start playing their game again. "I thought I told you guys to get lost. Aria and I don't want the house smelling like feet and pickles went the coolest girls in school are here for the slumber party. Right, Aria?" Bree says to me, knowing that I could break Chase down if I wanted to.

"Well, I personally think Adam is armpits and onions." I say, cracking a smile as Bree gives me a look. "Either way, you boys better not goof this up for us." I stand up, finally getting up off the couch and fixing my hair.

"Hey," Adam whines, pointing at Bree while talking to Tasha and Donald. "Why does she get to have a party and we don't?"

"Bree needs to spend time with other girls," Tasha says, explaining her reason. "So she will stop challenging strangers to a spit contest."

"But she's the champ!" I whine. "I'm second place, of course but still!" They just shake their heads at us and leave the room as Bree and I go back upstairs to her room to make sure that our outfits were acceptable. We head back down at five until six and Bree decides that she hates her outfit. She runs back upstairs to get changed with her super speed sending a rush of cold air around me, making me shiver.

"Worse!" she screams as she heads back down in skinny jeans and a tee with combat boots. I laugh at her as I go put the pizza in the oven and meet Bree back at the door as she opens it up, revealing a blonde girl with bangs wearing a pink dress. "Hi! I'm-" Bree gets cut off by the girl throwing her sleeping bag on her and her actual bag on me. I scoff, dropping it to the ground. I'm not her maid.

"Sick house! Totally huge, insane view, and it looks down on all the rentals." she says snobbishly. "Okay, girls, you can come in." What, does she own them or something? What is her deal? The other nine girls enter the house, all looking at the house with a shocked face. "We were going to go to Katelyn's, but her house is a dump compared to this."

A girl, that I'm guessing was Katelyn, butts in on the rude girl's statement. "We're getting a pool." she says, smiling like it was her job to impress her. I feel really sorry for her, having to hang around Stephanie. I would be long gone by now if I was her. Everyone was looking around the house as Bree hits Stephanie with a pillow, declaring a pillow fight. I have a feeling she didn't do that just for the pillow fight.

"Did you just hit me with that pillow?" she asks like it was the worst thing in the world.

"Yeah, and you just totally hit that couch!" I say, saving Bree from not having anything to say. Besides, I really wanted to tell her off. I don't like rude people. If they're rude to me, I'll be rude right back at them, no exceptions. But if you're nice to me, I'll be just as nice to you as you are to me.

"And who are you?" she says turning around to look at me while narrowing her eyes at me. "Whatever," she interjects before I could even say anything, dropping the subject. "Let's just take pictures of ourselves having fun, and we can send them to the girls we didn't invite." I roll my eyes and give Bree a look. She gives me one right back. I have a feeling that we were thinking the same thing.

"Hello ladies." Chase says, coming over with Adam with some kind of food on their plate while I just sit down on the chair knowing that they were going to try and pull some stupid prank. They offer their food up and Katelyn is the only one that takes one. Pretty soon, Chase's arm covered in 'blood' is pushed out from underneath his hoodie as he yells. No one really reacts to it except for Adam, and Adam is just...himself.

The boys leave and we all decide to get into our pajamas. At least that would be something to do for a little while. "Your brother, the short one, is really cute." Stephanie says to Bree. Okay, she was either actually telling the truth or trying to get under my skin, but I'm thinking it's the former considering the fact that she didn't even know we were dating. Okay, is it illegal to try and kill someone with a hairbrush?


	12. Chapter 12

Stephanie decides that she wants to try on all of Bree's clothes and even some of mine. I don't know why, neither of us really had her style. Like, at all. We have to even drag them all the way downstairs as she goes through them all, sorting them into the ones she liked and the ones that she didn't like. "What's going on here?" Tasha asks, coming into the room as she sees my glum face. I was not having fun, I can tell you that.

"Stephanie is seeing which of my clothes are cute enough for her to wear." she says with a smile, actually thinking this was a good idea, even though it was probably the worst one in the entire world. Marbles could come up with a better idea, and he's pretty stupid sometimes too.

She was now onto my clothes now and I wasn't really looking forward to what she had to say about my clothes. "Ew. Boring. Soccer mom. Yard sale. Ugh, who died and gave you this?" she says, throwing into the no pile, obviously. I sigh, looking down at my hands. This girl was really getting on my nerves. I couldn't stand her right now. It was driving me crazy.

"I don't think it's a good idea for you two to give her all your clothes." Tasha says, sitting down on the couch next to Bree. Bree defends Stephanie for some reason, claiming that she was just borrowing them while we all go back to watching her sort through my clothes which all ended up in the no pile, labeled with an insult on each and every one of them. Yep, my self esteem just feels awesome right now.

I excuse myself to go use the restroom and head down to the lab where Donald and Leo were. I was taking a risk, really hoping that my eyebrows didn't get burnt off. Eddie, their home smart system, was on fire. Clearly, I needed to come downstairs and see what the heck was going on.

"I can't believe you let a virus into my mainframe." Donald says to Leo and I keep myself from doing a facepalm. I should have known that it was Leo. "There's an override switch in Chase's capsule that will reset the system. Oh, hey, Aria." he says, noticing me for the first time as he heads into the middle capsule. The door suddenly closes on him and he's locked inside.

"What is going on?" I say to Leo knowing that it would probably be something that I would have to go back upstairs and get the super genius Chase for. The virus starts raining pellets of something onto Donald, claiming that it was going to bury him alive. Okay that is probably not good.

"I accidentally let a virus onto his computer and now it's trying to kill us." Leo says simply as if didn't matter even a little bit when it clearly did if Donald was going to have a death caused by pellets. Imagine reading that in a newspaper obituary. That would be something special there.

Leo tries kicking the glass but fails epically, making him hop around on one foot in pain. I laugh at him as the scientist trapped in a capsule tells him that it isn't even glass and could only be broken by a missile. Oh, too bad I left my missile at home. Sarcasm was totally intended, of course.

I quickly head back upstairs so that I would not be locked in the lab with that creepy virus that had taken over the sarcastic yet loveable Eddie. Especially considering the fact that I hated the lab in the first place.

"Where have you been?" Bree asks me as soon as I get back upstairs. "I've had to deal with Stephanie all alone. All alone without your witty comebacks to put her in her place like you do."

"Okay!" Tasha interjects as Stephanie suggests that we rate each other on a scale of one to ten, calling herself a ten. Well, honey, maybe in looks, but in personality, you're a big fat zero, Miss Rudey McRude Pants. "I think we've damaged enough self esteem for one night. How about we tell a scary ghost story?" she suggests as we all nod our head in agreement and she sits down in the middle of us.

"Yeah, okay, I guess we can do that." Stephanie says, finally getting beat by Tasha. I smirk to myself as you can tell her tiny defeat that she got just by looking at her face.

"Many years ago," Tasha starts. "in this very spot, a group of pioneer girls, with one very mean one, were being chased by a demon and when he finally caught them by their long blonde hair, he ground their bones into dust! He made clothes out of their livers!"

At that very moment, the door starts to creep open, which makes me officially creeped out, especially when the boys pop out from behind the couch, telling us that it wasn't them.

The power suddenly goes out, minus the TV where Eddie's flaming skull face pops up and I relax, knowing it was just the virus. "Handle the party." I whisper to Bree. "The boys and I will get this."

She nods as I stand up, heading behind the couch and dragging both Chase and Adam over to the kitchen by their hands. I let go of Adam, but keep holding onto Chase, smiling at my sweet boyfriend, but that quickly goes away as everyone starts screaming.

Tasha sends us three downstairs to figure out what was going on, even though I already knew what it was. I sigh as we head downstairs as Adam pulls the door open and we see Leo trying to break Donald out of the capsule with a hammer, which was most definitely not going to work.

They explain the situation as Chase heads over to the computer and tries to fix the virus. "This is not good." he says, a little bit panicked as I head over to look at the computer with him even though nothing made sense to me. "I can't get rid of it!"

"But I know how to get rid of you!" he says creepily with an evil laugh and this is the moment where I start to freak out a lot.


	13. Chapter 13

"I'll use Davenport's secret hidden laser security system!" the virus says as I start to get more scared than I already was, especially when Chase starts to lead me away from the computer and behind the desk very quickly and telling me to stay put. Apparently, the lasers would only stun Adam and Chase, but they would kill both Leo and I. Yep. I feel a whole lot better.

They start talking about their video game again and I laugh at their dorkiness for just a minute, but then I go back to seriousness, considering the fact that lasers were about to shoot from all directions of the room that would kill me. I don't about you, but I think that sounds a little harsh. Actually, a lot harsh.

I was most likely not going to do anything. First of all, I probably couldn't do it even if I tried. Plus, Chase would never even let me. That irritated me a little, but I know that he's just trying to protect me from, you know, dying. Dying isn't fun, kids.

The virus started talking again as I lean even further into the wall, practically curling up into a ball. Stupid bionic people. I knew I shouldn't have come into the lab! Why don't I ever learn?

Chase sees how scared I am and lays a hand on my knee, squeezing it and reassuring me that I wasn't going to be hit by the lasers as long as I didn't move. I sigh, definitely knowing that I was so not going to move from that spot, not one little inch.

I couldn't see what the boys were doing until I hear Leo tell me that Adam and Chase got hit by the lasers and they were on the ground. Now it was all up to Leo. Oh, man, I'm even more scared. We're all doomed. This will be the day I die. I shake away the negativity, still not moving as Leo yells heading out from behind the table and deflecting the lasers.

Somehow, he magically did it as I hear Chase, Adam, and Leo all cheering as the virus says one last thing before leaving the computer. "Well, there go my plans for the weekend." I smile, standing up as Donald gets out of Chase's capsule and pellets go everywhere, making a huge mess that I knew Leo would probably have to clean up later since he cause it in the first place.

Donald does something to unstun them, so to say, and Chase immediately gets up and gives me a big hug. I laugh at him, but then seriously hug back. I smile as we hold hands, walking back upstairs where the girls from the sleepover were leaving. They all had really jacked up hair. I go over to stand next to Bree as Stephanie walks up to Tasha, Bree, and I.

"Just so you know we're never coming back." she says, very snotty like. I swear, I think that she thinks she owns those girls or something. Well, newsflash, sister, I'm sure all of them probably hate you. Tasha comes back with a sarcastic response as Stephanie gets one last glare at us and all the girls are out the door. I take one of the smores that Bree had on her plate and start to eat it.

"I'm kind of glad they're gone." Bree says. "They were all just a bunch of jerks." I say and I nod my head, agreeing with her one hundred percent. I seriously hope that she didn't take any of our clothes. Well, she hated all of mine, so let me rephrase that. I seriously hope that she didn't take any of Bree's clothes.

I smile as Bree makes me go upstairs with her to go and fix her hair. It really was a mess that took two people to fix. There was a really big rat in it. Scratch that, there was a really big bird's nest in her hair. I make her get in the shower to wet it down and then comb it out while using some special grease type thing. What can I say? I am a freaking hair genius.

We head downstairs, cracking up laughing at the total slumber party fail. We decide to use all of the things that we had already prepared for the sleepover. We finish off the rest of the pizzas and make ice cream sundaes. We finish eating and I grab a bag of Sour Patch Kids, lying down on the couch with Chase, cuddling up to him as we watch a scary movie.

I hate scary movies, so I bet you're wondering why I was the one that wanted to watch the scary movies in the first place. I lover scaring people, but I hate being scared myself. That's why I was freaking out so much about the whole virus thing down in the lab.

Chase wraps his arms around me, warming me up really quickly, and I was really cold, so I was fortunate for that. I pull a blanket over us two and get even more heat as I start to eat my Sour Patch Kids, barely sharing them with Chase. I was practically eating them all by myself. Instead of freaking out like a normal person when watching scary movies, I apparently just pig out.

Yeah, I really don't know how I have a boyfriend either. It actually was pretty surprising when he asked me out. I was really happy when he did though. I think I really, really love him. He's really sweet and cute. Adorable, yet still a dork. He's adorkable. That's like the best combination that you could ever have. Like really.

If Chase never asked me out, and I somehow got a boyfriend magically - even though I don't know how, I'm pretty weird - he would be just like Chase. I wouldn't want anyone but Chase though. I think it's impossible for someone to love me like Chase and vice versa, me with him. I seriously think that he might be the one.


	14. Chapter 14

I wake up to Chase getting up and I stretch on the couch, following him into the kitchen where I was really tired from the sleepover last night. Too many viruses to deal with. I didn't see Bree anywhere until she walks in with the face mask on her face.

"Oh, that's right!" I say, remembering that we forgot to do those last night as I head into the bathroom where everything was already set up from Bree using it. I put some on my face and walk out, already feeling my face starting to harden.

"So, do I look sexy or what?" I tease as I walk out of the bathroom with my wrinkled pajamas still on and my hair still up in a really messy bun. Like it was really messy. Chase just smiles, getting my joke as I start cracking up laughing at myself. I'm such a dork sometimes.

I redo my hair and go upstairs, putting on skinny jeans, Uggs, and one of Chase's sweatshirts. I smile as I see a picture of Chase and I together in a picture frame on his night stand.

As I start to go back downstairs, I get a text message from Jenna. 'Come home as soon as you get this. It's really important. I love you Aria.' What's wrong? Please tell me that it's nothing too serious.

I quickly tell everyone that I was heading home so they wouldn't worry about me as I grab my skateboard from behind the bush, skating home as fast as I could. I really wanted to know what was wrong and I was hoping and praying that it was nothing way too serious.

Jenna did randomly say that she loved me though, which worried me. To me, that's just a big red flag that something's wrong with someone.

I finally make it back home as I stash my skateboard in the bush like usual and rush inside the door, going as fast as I could. I could tell something was wrong as soon as I walked in the door. Jenna was crying.

She rarely ever cried. The only time that I have ever seen her cry was when our dad died, and that was probably the worst thing that I had ever experienced. Max was trying to comfort Jenna to the best of his ability, but it clearly wasn't working if she was still bawling like a baby.

"Aria, mom died in service today." Jenna says as I start to join her in bawling like a baby. I couldn't believe it. This wasn't happening, I kept telling myself, closing my eyes and pretending that it was all a dream.

But once I open my eyes and I still see the crying Jenna, I know this was for real. I didn't have parents anymore. They were gone, and they were never going to come back. They were gone forever.

I angrily stomp through the house, heading out the back door and slamming it as loud as I could, wanting people to know that I was angry and upset. I grab the volleyball from the ground where I had been using it last and I do a bunch of spikes, taking all my anger out on that volleyball, pretending that it was the face of the person that ended my own mother's life. I hope he goes to hell and never comes back. I sure as heck never want to see him.

I groan, lying in the grass and staring at the sky with the tears still rolling down my face, never stopping. They were never ending. I just didn't even see a point in trying to do anything right now. I just felt so bad that I wanted to go to sleep right here and never wake up. I was just so angry that I didn't even have time to be sad and mourn.

I stand up, starting to hit my volleyball spikes again. I pretended that I was in a game right now. I would have some killer spikes if we were. I sigh, sitting back down on the ground, completely wiped out. How could this happen to me?

I've made my mistakes, but I don't think that I deserved to feel this, along with Jenna and my mom sure as heck didn't deserve to die. She was a hell of a woman. She was my role model. She always did was right and then this has to happen. Death is the painful truth and is such an ugly thing.

I groan lying back down on the grass, running my fingers through it and grasping my hands around it as I pull it out of the ground as hard as I could. I throw it up in the air, making it rain on me as I smile a little.

There was sweat on my forehead and I was starting to feel a little bit woozy. Tears were still streaming down my face and I felt like absolute crap. I only have time to scream one time as loud as I could before I pass out and everything just turns black. Just how I wanted it.

I wake up to a bunch of bright lights and close my eyes tightly, not wanting to strain myself. I slowly wake up a little bit more as I remember what had happened and the fact that I was in a bed that wasn't my own in a hospital.

I absolutely loathe hospitals. It just smells like hand sanitizer and sickness and everything is way too bright for my liking. It was annoying. I wanted to get out of here, as far away as possible, running as fast as I could to escape my current situation.

That's the biggest problem I have. I always have had this problem. I run away from things that I don't want to deal with. It's just my nature.

There are people who stay and people who go. I have a feeling that I'll be one of the people that leave. And that scares the absolute crap out of me.


	15. Chapter 15

Apparently, I had fallen back asleep because I was awoken by somebody grabbing onto my hand. I slowly open my eyes so I don't get blinded by the hospital lights as I see Chase standing there with a wide smile on my face.

That makes my smile grow to match his as he pulls me in for a hug. "So how are you feeling?" he asks, brushing my bangs out of my face to behind me and leaves his hand on my cheek, making me feel a lot better.

"Well, physically, I'm just fine and actually have no idea why I'm here. Emotionally, I feel like crap." He gives me a light smile as he gestures for me to scoot over as he gets into the bed with me, pulling me into him by my waist as he tells me that everything is going to be just fine. I almost believe him. I honestly hoped that everything would work out just how I wanted it to in the end.

I fall asleep in that position, not wanting him to leave me, and I even told him that before I fell asleep. I really needed someone to be there for me and right now, Chase was the only one around to comfort me. I wonder where Jenna and Bree are as sleep overtakes me.

I awake with a start, wondering where the heck I was as I remember that I was in the hospital for passing out. I felt absolutely fine now. Why can't I just go home and cry with my sister while eating ice cream? That's what we did when our dad died.

We watched all kinds of family movies together, crying ourselves to sleep until our mom came home from service not too long after, only to have to leave not even a week later. That was the last time I saw her. More than a year ago.

I sigh as I try to sit up only to realize that Chase had his arms wrapped around my waist and was snoring cutely. Aw. He kept his promise. He stayed with me. I swear, I'm in love with this kid. Suddenly, Jenna comes in, carefully engulfing me in a hug so that she didn't wake Chase.

"Aria, we're not going to have a funeral. I'm sorry, we just can't afford it right now." I sigh, nodding my head because I understood our little money situation. We had money for clothes, food, and entertainment, but not enough for a funeral that was worthy of my mother.

"It's okay. Now can I get out of here soon? I have a volleyball game to practice for." Today was Sunday so tomorrow, I had school and a home volleyball game, meaning that Bree was coming home with me. We always do this when we have home games because her parents can't get home in time to take us at four when we get home from school at three and Bree and I always carpool, no matter what.

Jenna laughs at me, shaking her head. "Trust me, you don't need it. You almost put a hole in our roof with your spike." I smile, cracking up laughing at my goofy big sister. I honestly don't know what I would do without her. She was like my rock. I love her to death. I'm really glad that I had her as my sister. She's cool and fun, what better could you ask for in a sister? Nothing, that's what.

Cher suddenly comes into the room as soon as Chase wakes up and he sits up, rubbing his eyes. "Hey kiddo!" she smiles with her British accent that I absolutely adore. I wish that I had her accent. I could be part of the British Invasion with One Direction and Ed Sheeran.

"Hey Cher!" Jenna and I smile in unison. She was like the middle sister that we never had. "Ooh, speaking of famous people." Jenna says heading over to the door, sending a look in Chase's direction as he nods, getting out of the bed and out the door to go do something, I don't really care. I just want to know what Jenna was talking about. Okay, never mind, that just sounded really mean.

All of the sudden, Chase comes back in the door with no one behind him, which kind of surprised me. Jenna opens the door one last time and in comes a Youtuber that I have always loved to infinity and beyond. Probably the coolest person that I will ever meet. Shane freaking Dawson.

I squeal a total fangirl squeal as I get up to go give him a hug, which he returns quickly. This was probably the best surprise that I will ever get. Nothing can top this. Well, iJustine could come and then this surprise would be matched, but not topped.

"Jenna, how the heck did you do this?!" I ask as we pull back from the hug, me really, really excited. I mean, it's Shane Dawson for crying out loud. If you were me, you would probably be bouncing off the walls in excitement too and if you wouldn't be, you're a cold person. That is all.

We get a bunch of pictures together and Shane gives me a free t-shirt that he had signed. That was just like, you know, the most awesome thing that has ever happened to me in my entire life. Like that probably doesn't even sum up how excited I was. We spend a bunch of time just talking about all kinds of things from my mom to all of his videos. I was still really excited, in case you couldn't tell.

The thing that he says next makes me more excited than everything in the entire world has made me feel before. "Aria, I want you to do a video with me before I go home." That almost made me pass out again. I smile, nodding my head yes as I realize that my worst day ever has turned into my best day ever.


	16. Chapter 16

I was finally released from the hospital, which made me really happy. It took a lot of convincing from Jenna for her to be sure that I was ready to be released from the hospital and that I wouldn't pass out again. In fact, she even made Cher walk me to the car before going to her own while Jenna was doing the paperwork.

Chase kisses me goodbye as he gets back in his car where Tasha had been waiting for him outside. It had been a while too, so I'm kind of surprised that she decided to actually let him come. I wouldn't let him go visit his girlfriend, especially if I had to drive him and then wait for him, if I was Tasha.

Shane and I decided to do the video on Tuesday because I was resting tonight, according to Jenna at least. She was probably going to let me practice volleyball by the end of the night. I know her weaknesses. I know how to get things from her. Okay, I know that makes me sound like a brat, but I don't mean to be that way. I also had my volleyball game tomorrow, so Tuesday was the perfect time for both of us.

Jenna gets in the driver seat next to me and she pulls out of the hospital parking lot, turning left and I crinkle my eyebrows in confusion as I realize that we were heading away from our house, not towards it. "Wait, Jenna, where are we going? You turned the wrong way."

Jenna gives me a smile as she starts talking. Well, actually more like yelling. "We're going to go get some fro yo, bro!" I start cracking up laughing at my crazy big sister as she chuckles only a little bit at her own joke as we go through the drive through to get our frozen yogurt.

I got chocolate with nuts and Jenna got strawberry. I paid for Cher to have some too as we take it home so that she could have some. I eat it on the way home, savoring every bite. I freaking love frozen yogurt. It's practically my life line.

I smile as we pull into the driveway, seeing Marble and Kermit jumping around as they see us. I was worried that they were going to get out, but then I saw Max holding them by their leashes. Cher pulls into the driveway not to long after us as I give the frozen yogurt to her. "Yay, thank you!" she cheers, starting to eat the yogurt.

I pick up Marbles and carry him to my room and set him to my bed as he lays down, snuggling into my sheets. I laugh at his cuteness and change into my pajamas of pajama pants and Chase's sweatshirt and my Hello Kitty boot slippers that I just love to death. I had changed my mind about going against what Jenna wanted and playing volleyball since Jenna had got me frozen yogurt.

I just go to sleep almost immediately, really wanting to just fall asleep so that I could just go to school in the morning. I wake up and take a shower, curling my hair and doing my makeup, getting dressed. I put on a grey and blue striped sweater, jeans, and combat boots. I love my combat boots. You and me combat boots, till death do us part.

I make my way downstairs, grabbing a bagel on the way out that Jenna had made for me. I grab my skateboard, skating down the sidewalk the few blocks as I arrive at Bree's house so we could go to school together. I was really looking forward to today.

Bree comes out of her house with the boys trailing behind her as we start skating in front of the boys. "Man, we really need to learn how to skate." Leo says, watching us do what we did best. I was the one that taught Bree how to skate, and ever since then, we've used our skateboards to go everywhere. I love skating, but I don't really know much tricks. It's like a pastime and a form of transportation for me.

"You know, it's kind of sad that we can skate and you guys can't." Bree smirks as we share a look and skate a lot faster so that we would beat them to school, which we did. I skate into the hall, making sure to look out for Principal Perry as I pick my skateboard off the floor, sticking it into my locker and grabbing my books for my first period class.

I smile as I turn around, seeing Chase waiting for me. He offers me up his hand which I gladly take. We head to our first period class and dropped our book off in the classroom, walking back out and finding Bree standing by Nicole's locker. "Hey, girl!" I smile as Nicole looks at me with a smile, looking down at mine and Chase's intertwined hands and raises her eyebrow.

"So you guys are back together?" I nod, smiling at her as she smiles back at me. "Yay! Leo owes me five bucks!" she says, and I give both Bree and Nicole a look.

"Are you kidding me? You both bet on our relationship?" I ask, surprised by the fact that they both get five bucks because we got back together and the fact that Leo loses ten bucks because he didn't think that we would get back together. That didn't really settle well with me.

The warning bell rings as we head to our class and the bell rings again, signaling the start of class. Thankfully, the day rushes by really quickly as we finally make our way home so that we could get ready for the volleyball game. I get my spandex, jersey, knee pads, and socks all on and slide on some sweatpants and a jacket before sliding on my Uggs and shoving my volleyball shoes into my bag, along with five dollars from Jenna.

We get in the car as we head to school. Jenna took us because she was going to be at the game anyways. In the car with us were Cher and Max. We arrive at the school one hour earlier than we had to be and I take my sweatpants and jacket on, putting on my volleyball shoes as Bree and I get to work at putting the volleyball net up.


	17. Chapter 17

Bree and I always go at least an hour earlier and put up the net. It saves work for the officials, the coaches, and the players. We don't mind doing it, and once we have it put up, we can practice our volleyball before the game. Let's just say that Elise pretty much loves us for doing it.

We finally get it set up and we start practicing, me probably hurting myself a lot more than necessary, but I really dive for balls instead of taking steps forward to get them. Elise says it's a problem I have, but it doesn't really matter. I mean, I still hit it over and get back up on my feet in time.

An example would be exactly what happens next. Bree sends a really fast and really hard spike ball as I react quickly to get it. I skid across the floor, giving me really bad burns, and you could even hear the squeak on the floor. Bree catches the ball and starts laughing at me and I just scowl at her as I get back up.

Pretty soon, Nicole and Dylan arrive and we play two on two, Dylan being on my team. As more and more people get here, we keep adding more to the teams until Elise finally gets there and the officials come not long after her. She gathers us up in a group huddle. The other team walks in.

"Alright ladies," Elise says, turning serious. "This team that we are facing tonight has won the state championship two times in a row. Their coach works for one of the best volleyball training programs in the country. We need to beat them, alright? Start peppering." She dismisses everyone except Bree and I as we go over to the official and the other team's team captains.

We do all our warm ups and I don't realize how nervous I was until we get in the locker room and Elise was giving us another pep talk. My stomach was literally in knots. I know I shouldn't be nervous, but I was. I think it was the fact that they have won state before. I know that we can beat them. I believe in my team, but I really don't believe in myself right now.

I shake the nerves off as I listen to the last part of what Elise was saying. "Now girls, I don't care about the score. The only thing I care about is whether you try or not. If you guys just stand there and don't do anything and let the ball hit the floor, then I will be pissed at each and every one of you, because you're a team." We all nod in understanding and run out of the locker room and into the gym, getting into our positions.

I look up into the crowd to see my family and Bree's family up in the stands, and I make eye contact with Chase and he winks at me. I smile back and get ready to serve. I serve it up and it goes over the net, immediately hitting the floor. Well, gee, so much for state championships. The coach yells as loud as he could, putting the girls down. Oh, and so much for best coach.

In my opinion, you are not a good coach unless you encourage you're players and don't bring them down like this guy was doing. I feel sorry for the kids in the stands. They must be scared to death. It was the first point. Get over it.

I sigh, hitting the serve and the team definitely made sure to hit the ball back in one hit with a spike. Bree hits it back and it keeps going back and forth for what feels like ages. In reality, it was probably only six or seven minutes. It sure didn't feel like that.

I was pretty tired of it, so I gave Bree an annoyed kind of look, and she agreed with me, sporting the same look. She has Nicole set it up for her and she spiked it down as hard as she could, hitting the floor. They all tried for it, but they still didn't get it. The fact that the coach still yelled his head off at them made me mad as well.

We had been going for about ten minutes, and it was 2-0, us being 2, of course. Something tells me that this was going to be one long and fair fight, but I was determined to win the battle. Everything was so competitive at this moment, and I knew the tension would keep rising and rising.

I sigh in frustration and hit the serve back over. I hit it over and groan even more as I realize that I really overshot and it hits the wall on the other side of the gym, meaning the other team had the ball. My teammates come and hit me on the butt anyways, just as a good job kind of thing, even thought I didn't do a good job and we all knew that, even if they didn't admit it.

We do a lot more passing back and forth until the score is tied. It was 21-21 and I think we had them pretty good. At least I hoped. I just really wanted to win this game and prove that jerk of a coach wrong, especially since he has really been getting on my nerves this entire game. I hit one last spike to finish up the match. Us being the winner with 25-21. I made sure that they did not get another point under any circumstance.

We get a little bit of a break since that game lasted forever, so I quickly go up into the stands and grab my bottle of water from Jenna. I didn't see Adam or Chase anywhere, but I shake it off for now. After Cher promises we would get frozen yogurt after the game, I head back down to the court to look for Bree so that we could practice before our next match.

I didn't see her anywhere and the next match was about to begin. Bree seriously would have never bailed out on us, for whatever reason. Well, okay, probably for One Direction, but I can understand that. I would probably be right there with her.

I look around once more, not finding any of the Davenport siblings. Now that I think about, Big D and Leo were nowhere in sight either. The only person left was Tasha, and she was talking to Jenna about who knows what. It was only when the match finally started that I realized something was going on that I didn't know about, and I really wanted to know about.


	18. Chapter 18

I shake my head, trying to get rid of anything that involved them at this moment and just focus on volleyball. I know that sounded really mean, but I really wanted to win this game, really bad. It really wasn't like Bree to just up and leave for no reason at all, especially when we were playing volleyball. Okay, screw this. I couldn't just let them slip my mind.

I just shake it off and get back to playing the game. Surely, Elise knew what they were. She wasn't saying, "Where's Bree?" or anything like that and she's our freaking setter for crying out loud! Elise just told me to take her position and get on with it. So I did. It would have been bad to make Elise upset when she was stressed out, so I just went with what she said without question.

Besides, even if Elise didn't know where they were, they were bionic and could handle themselves. I know that sounds mean, but I was mostly worried about Chase. After all, he was my boyfriend. Well, I guess Bree is my best friend. And then there's Adam and Leo. Okay, whatever! I care about them equally!

The match continues and I swear that it was Nicole and I that were keeping our team from falling apart. We were losing our mojo, and big time. We end the match with a score of 20-25, us losing, of course. In the group huddle before our next match, Elise tells us that we better step up our game or we would be running our asses off at practice. Nice language, but it got the point across. I would happily run five miles for our failure.

I feel like we weren't motivated, so I start pumping everyone up in the locker room by being my crazy self. I was acting like I belonged in a mental hospital. Everyone, including Elise, was laughing like it was the funniest thing that they had ever seen, and I will admit that it was pretty funny. So I pretty much accomplished my mission of making everyone excited.

We do our little chant and run out, very excitedly. I'm pretty glad I did that. If we believe in ourselves, there's really no way that we could lose. We were a pretty unstoppable team, aside from the last match, but we were definitely going to bring that up. I let my mind clear and stop to think about Adam, Bree, Chase, and Leo. All I needed to focus on was volleyball. Only volleyball, and that's it.

I smack the ball down to the ground to get us the last point of the last match and wipe the sweat off of my forehead as I fix my headband. I was looking around the whole time, and there was still no sign of Bree, Leo, Adam, Chase, or Big D anywhere and Tasha actually left as well with Max, Jenna, and Cher being the only people that didn't leave.

I was pretty proud of our victory if I do say so myself. We high five the other team where Elis gives us a little pep talk before we were allowed to go home. There was still no sign of Adam, Bree, Chase, and Leo. Not even Mr. Davenport came back. "Where's Bree?" Jenna asks me since we were planning to spend the night, even on a school night. I just shrug my shoulders. I honestly had no idea.

I'm glad we won though, considering that I really didn't want to hang around much longer. I was quite tired and just wanted to sleep. I was glad that we were the only ones playing tonight. If the junior varsity was playing, then we probably wouldn't even have started our game yet, and then it would really suck. I just wanted to go home and either sleep or eat. Probably both in the end.

Jenna, Max, Cher, and I all load into the car and head home. I was right. First, I take a shower and get into pajamas, then grab a pint of Ben & Jerry's cookie dough ice cream and cuddle into my bed with Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol playing in the background. It was probably one of my favorite movies of all time. Right now, at least. It'll probably change in a couple of days.

I quickly fall asleep as I finish my ice cream. I'm really surprised that I'm not fat. I wake up in the morning to lots of loud music playing downstairs as I realize that it was about two in the morning, so I was really surprised. I quickly put on some slippers and run downstairs to see what the hell was going on. Jenna and Cher were downstairs, both in their pajamas. Okay, they have to be drunk.

"Hey, Aria!" Jenna smiles. Okay, they didn't sound drunk. "We turned the music up so you would come downstairs. We were too lazy to go up and get you." I sigh, holding back a smile at my crazy sister and crazy friend. Okay, if they're not drunk, they have got to be high on crack or something. Or, at least, they act like it right now.

"I'm going back home in a couple of hours." Cher says pretty calmly, and that sentence makes me freak out. I gasp in shock and run over to give her a big hug. Well, this sucks. Cher was leaving, and she probably wouldn't be coming back for a while, and that made me pretty upset. I don't think I really expected her to ever leave. I know that sounds weird, but it's true.

We spend the whole morning just hanging out and spending the last time together and we drive Cher to the airport. There were paparazzi everywhere, which was quite ridiculous to me for two reasons. One, it was a complete violation of privacy, and two, it was way too early in the morning for anybody to be awake, but yet, of course we were awake.

I sigh, just wishing they would go away as we said our tearful goodbyes to each other. I really didn't want to say goodbye. Cher was a pretty good friend for only knowing her for a little while. I was quite sad to see her go. After a few tearful hugs with each other, we finally say goodbye, which I was really not wanting to do. The worst part was that I'm pretty sure the paparazzi got everything on film. Nice. I wipe away a final tear as I watch her leave.


	19. Note

**Hello everyone!**

**I have moved to 'myownkingdom'**

**I might continue these stories on there, but I am not sure. Please follow me and my stories and check them out! I would really appreciate it!**

**Link in profile**


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